Last month, China announced that it would allow Hong Kongers to vote for their next leader in 2017 as promised, but that the candidates had to be approved by a Beijing-endorsed committee. Pro-democracy activists like Wong have said that the move will all but eliminate any hope of a real democratic choice.

Meanwhile, Wong has been one of the leaders of the student movement since 2011. He began his activism at 15-years-old after the central government attempted to introduce pro-Communist “National and Moral Education” into Hong Kong public schools. In response, Wong started the student protest movement Scholarism. In September 2012, the movement rallied 120,000 protesters and 13 hunger strikers to occupy Hong Kong government headquarters. Hong Kong’s leaders withdrew the proposal.